Is Bill Gates the Ginger Rogers of the computer industry?

As a visionary, Bill Gates is a pretty good dancer. He brings to mind not Fred Astaire, probably the most famous and most watched dancer of all time, but his frequent partner, Ginger Rogers.

It has been noted that everything Astaire did, Rogers was able to do -- backwards and in high heels. That's high praise for the nimble Ms. Rogers. But for a would-be visionary, following someone else's lead -- no matter how skillfully -- simply doesn't cut it.

Take for example Microsoft's vision for the future of computing. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, we got this summary of the software maker's strategy: "Empower people through great software anytime, anyplace, and on any device."

Sound familiar? It should. It's the same vision Sun has been expounding in executive speeches and company literature for several years. (The fact that Microsoft's vision statement was actually crafted by second-in-command Steve Ballmer rather than Mr. Gates only reinforces our point.)

In Sun's 1997 Annual Report, Scott McNealy said this in his letter to stockholders : "Our goal is to provide network connectivity as dependable as it is seamless. We call it WebTone. Like the dial tone on your telephone, it's always there. It provides the connection you need, anytime, anywhere, through any number of easy-to-use devices."

Come to think of it, that must be where Gates got the idea to start talking about "WinTone."

The big difference between Sun and Microsoft becomes apparent when you look at the vision statement that opens our 1998 Annual Report: "Through open interfaces, industry standards, and platform-independent Java technologies, we're working to provide seamless connectivity to anyone, anywhere, anytime, on virtually anything."

Anyone who has followed the Justice Department's antitrust case against Microsoft knows that the maker of the Windows operating system is very stingy with its programming interfaces. Likewise, Microsoft's efforts to tie the Java programming language to its OS indicate that the company is more interested in protecting its monopoly than in creating software that will run anywhere, anytime, on anything.

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then we should take all this as a compliment. Instead, we feel as if Ginger just stepped on our toes in those lovely but painful stiletto heels she used to wear.